Health NZ’s bid to remove Milo from staff rooms could have cost the union $3 million

New Zealand’s “misguided” bid to remove Milo from staff rooms could have ultimately cost the country millions of dollars, a doctors’ union has said.

Health Commissioner Lester Levy personally intervened after hearing of the movepart of wider cost savings across the sector.

Along with acting CEO Dale Bramley, he issued a new directive Wednesday afternoon “to ensure Milo remains available to everyone.”

“When I first heard yesterday that it had been suggested that Health NZ would switch to an alternative to Milo to save some money, I immediately put a stop to that and sent a message to all staff who in Milo’s case the status quo will prevail,” he wrote.

“I know from our frontline employees that they especially enjoy Milo, and want it to remain available to them.”

Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, Milo and sugar remained available to staff, he said.

Resident Doctors Association executive director Dr Deborah Powell said she was “somewhat surprised” to hear the commissioner had become involved at this level – but confirmed staff were relieved by the pushback.

Last week she was approached by outraged members about the original decision, which would also replace sugar with sucral.

“I have to say it really annoyed a lot of people,” she said.

“I’ve had nurses contact me saying, ‘We can’t give patients much these days, but at least we can continue to offer someone a Milo drink if they’ve been waiting for hours in an overbooked outpatient clinic.’

“So it’s not just the clinical staff who are affected.”

Providing hot drinks was actually written into the collective contracts of some health workers, she said.

“If that is not the case, the employer must pay compensation. So if this had been done for cost savings, it would have been anything but.

“I think I have calculated that if they removed that provision, it would have been $2.3 million in nursing costs for Te Whatu Ora alone.”

Powell said the proposal was likely the result of “over-enthusiasm” on the part of an official.

‘I know they are under pressure to keep costs down, but there are implications for many of the things we do and consultation is needed to make good decisions.

“It’s not just a bit of window dressing, it’s to avoid making mistakes.”

Powell said she hoped the episode would send a message to Health New Zealand management that staff needed to be involved in decision-making.

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